No abstract

Caesalpinia sappan L. (C. sappan) has been used in Oriental medicine as an antitumor agent. The present study shows the effects of the chloroform extract of C. sappan on cell death in head and neck cancer cell lines. The viability of HNSCC4 and HNSCC31 cells (head and neck cancer cell lines) was noticeably decreased compared to that of HaCaT cells (control group) in the presence of chloroform extract. No significant difference was observed in the viability of HNSCC4 and HNSCC31 cells when compared with HaCaT cells in the presence of n-butanol, methanol, and water extracts. Exposure to the chloroform extract of C. sappan resulted in an increase in the Sub-G1 phase of the cell cycle and condensation and shrinkage of nuclei in the HNSCC4 and HNSCC31 cells. The levels of p53 and p21WAF1/CIP1 were also increased in the HNSCC4 and HNSCC31 cells. The results suggest that the chloroform extract of C. sappan may increase cell death in the HNSCC4 and HNSCC31 cells, which is linked to increased cellular levels of p53 and p21WAF1/CIP1.

A reproducible plant regeneration and an Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated genetic transformation protocol were developed for Perilla frutescens (perilla). The largest number of adventitious shoots were induced directly without an intervening callus phase from hypocotyl explants on MS medium supplemented with 3.0 mg/l 6-benzylaminopurine (BA). The effects of preculture and extent of cocultivation were examined by assaying beta-glucuronidase (GUS) activity in explants infected with A. tumefaciens strain EHA105 harboring the plasmid pIG121-Hm. The highest number of GUS-positive explants were obtained from hypocotyl explants cocultured for 3 days with Agrobacterium without precultivation. Transgenic perilla plants were regenerated and selected on MS basal medium supplemented with 3.0 mg/l BA, 125 mg/l kanamycin, and 500 mg/l carbenicillin. The transformants were confirmed by PCR of the neomycin phosphotransferase II gene and genomic Southern hybridization analysis of the hygromycin phosphotransferase gene. The frequency of transformation from hypocotyls was about 1.4%, and the transformants showed normal growth and sexual compatibility by producing progenies.

Recent evidence has shown that the prolamine polysomes are attached not only to the endoplasmic reticulum membranes that bound the prolamine protein bodies (PBs) but also to cytoskeleton elements associated with this subcellular fraction. To learn more about the nature of the proteins that are associated with this supra-macromolecular complex, proteins extracted from an enriched cytoskeleton-PB fraction were resolved by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under non-equilibrium conditions and analyzed for their composition by immunological and biochemical methods. Immunoblot analysis indicated the presence of the cytoskeletal proteins, actin and tubulin, and the cytoskeletal-associated protein EF1 alpha in this fraction. Microsequencing of selected polypeptides revealed a diversity of protein sequences. In addition to contaminating storage proteins which are selectively solubilized by the isolation procedure, several ribosomal proteins and histone H3 were also identified. Some of the remaining polypeptides showed partial homology to protein sequences deposited in the database, several of which are cytoskeleton-associated proteins.

No abstract